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Chapter 3

Arthur and Emily were walking down a quiet hallway. He was surprised that there was not as much noise then he would usually hear from his room. He was nervous while walking with Emily. Every step made him feel like he was going farther and farther away from his home. He couldn't help but hold Emily's hand tighter to try and comfort himself. Emily stopped walking and turned to him.

Emily took her other hand and wrapped it around Arthur's hand. "It's going to be okay, Arthur. If your parents recommended them, then they must be good people," said Emily while smiling at Arthur.

"I know. But what if I make something bad happen to them? Just like my parents!" said Arthur.

"We've talked about this before. Listen, Arthur, there's nothing we can do about the past. But the future is always something that we can change. Please remember those words. Because they have always helped me through tough times," said Emily.

"I'll try," said Arthur.

"That's good enough," said Emily.

Arthur and Emily continued to walk down the hallway. When they reached the end of the hallway, Arthur started to hear the usual sounds of people walking and talking with each other. As Arthur was getting closer to the end, memories from his dream surfaced. The words from his parents repeated in his head, causing him to hesitate to take the final step from the hallway.

Seeing his movement, Emily pulled on his hand. "The future doesn't wait for you, Arthur. So neither will I," said Emily.

With a quick pull, Arthur left the hallway. Arthur and Emily walked toward the main desk of the hospital. Nurses and doctors were constantly passing them. Arthur could see that some of them were dragging their feet as they passed them. At the front desk, Arthur saw many people lined up. He saw that most of them were wearing depressed expressions. While Emily talked with one of the receptionists, Arthur looked into the distance. A nurse walked to one of the family's in the line and gestured for them to follow her. They hesitated at first but still followed the nurse to the corner of the room.

While Arthur was watching the family, he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. "C'mon, Arthur. I've checked you out so you can see you're aunt and uncle," said Emily.

Emily took Arthur's hand. And lead him away from the front desk. While Arthur was passing the line, he saw the same family walking away from the corner. A woman was crying while a man was walking with her. Arthur could see that he had a sad expression on his face while clenching his fist. The scene reminded him of the expression his father would make while they were running. Arthur quickly pushed the memories to the back of his head and started to look around while walking.

After going down the main hallway, Arthur reached the front entrance of the hospital. He saw multiple chairs along the edges of the walls. He could see a couple sitting beside each other on one of the pairs of chairs. The woman had her black hair tied into a ponytail and had a small brown backpack on her lap. She was looking at a pamphlet that Arthur saw while passing through the hospital. The man beside her was talking to her while she was reading the pamphlet. His hairstyle reminded Arthur of his father. The main difference Arthur found was that the man had more hair making his own unique style. Arthur also found that he was slightly taller than his dad.

Emily pulled his hand and led him to the couple. “Those two should be your aunt and uncle. You don’t have to worry about them being fake. We have done a background check beforehand,” said Emily.

"I know. I trust you miss Emily,” said Arthur while wearing a troubled expression.

Arthur could see that the couple started to approach them.

Emily quickly turned towards him with a kind smile. “It’s been fun, Arthur. I hope you can still find happiness after this,” said Emily.

Arthur’s expression softened after hearing her words. The couple reached Emily and Arthur while they were talking. The couple was holding hands while looking at Arthur and Emily. The woman was wearing a light smile, while the man beside her was wearing an exhausted expression.

“Hi, Arthur. My name is Lucas. I am your uncle, and the woman beside me is my wife. Her name is Emilia,” said Lucas.

Emilia waved her free hand towards Arthur. “Nice to meet Arthur,” said Emilia.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” said Arthur.

Lucas wore a serious expression as he turned to Emily and said. “We can’t thank you enough for helping Arthur, he may be the last family that I have left.”

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“It was my pleasure, Arthur is a great kid. Talking to him helped distract me from everything that has happened,” said Emily while returning a troubled expression.

After the short exchange, Emilia guided Arthur to her side. He heard Emily recommend a pharmaceutical drug called Miracle to his uncle. Arthur heard stories from his parents about the new medicine produced by a company called virtue. His mother said it made her job as a nurse easier because of its wide range of effects. While Arthur was lost in his thoughts, he felt a slight tap on his shoulder.

Emilia crouched towards Arthur and said. “We live in a town close to Philadelphia. We'll help you adapt to the change. I know you have always lived in the city, so feel free to ask us for help if you need any.”

Arthur hesitated to respond. He wondered why these other family members were close. But never kept in contact with his father.

“Thanks, aunty. I will let you know,” said Arthur.

Emilia responded with a slight nod while clenching her fist. She wore a similar expression to his mother after talking about losing someone she tried to save during her job. Arthur looked at his uncle to try and distract himself from his memory.

Emily seemed to have finished talking to his uncle as he approached Arthur and his aunt. Emily waved to Arthur with a bright smile on her face before leaving. Arthur waved back, hoping that he may see her again.

Lucas moved his hand to Arthur’s head but quickly pulled it back. “Sorry, Arthur. I usually rub my daughter's hair to help her cheer up,” said Lucas.

Emilia turned to Lucas and put her hands on her waist. She called him while wearing an annoyed expression. “When we get home, you can do that to Chloe, but now is not the time,” said Emilia.

His uncle quickly shook his head. “I know, now we should head out,” said Lucas.

Arthur let out a small chuckle by listening to their exchange. Seeing Arthur relaxed put a slight smile on Emilia's face. They all left the hospital shortly after through the front door. It seemed to be getting closer to the night, with the sun starting to set. The parking lot in front of Arthur was filled with cars. There were also some emergency vehicles in action, entering and leaving the parking lot. Arthur was led through the parking lot by Lucas and Emilia.

“We couldn’t get any parking, so we had to park at the side of the road. It should be just a small walk,” said Lucas.

“That’s okay. I haven’t had the chance to walk in a while,” said Arthur.

Emilia slowed down and opened her backpack. She then pulled out a water bottle and gave it to Arthur.

“We heard over the phone your condition was stable, so we didn’t know what to bring. I hope this water helps?” asked Emilia.

Arthur grabbed the water and opened it. “Thanks for the water,” said Arthur.

He felt refreshed, he didn’t have a chance in the hospital to get water whenever he wanted, leaving him thirsty at times. Arthur looked around while walking. The sky was slightly bright because of the setting sun. He couldn’t see many people around them or large amounts of traffic, which was weird since it was summer. He also noticed that some stores around him weren’t open, almost as if they were abandoned. Questions started to fill his head as he was walking.

The biggest question was popping in and out of his head. He reached a point where he couldn’t help but ask. Arthur stopped and stared at his uncle and aunt.

“Why did you stop Arthur? Is something wrong?” asked Lucas.

Arthur’s body started to tremble as he began to speak with small tears running down his cheeks. “Why haven’t I ever seen you in my life? Why didn’t you show up and help us? If you were there maybe...we could have saved them,” said Arthur.

Emilia nudged Lucas with her elbow and turned her head towards Arthur. Lucas stepped forward while rubbing the back of his head.

“The truth is me and your dad have stopped talking to each other years ago. If it wasn’t for the fact that Emilia was friends with your mother. I wouldn’t have even known that you were here,” said Lucas with a sad expression.

Arthur then turned to Emilia. She gave him a slight nod and said. “I met your mother a while ago, and we kept each other's contact information just in case something ever happened. We have talked over the phone but we haven’t met up since that day,” said Layla.

Lucas clenched his fist and looked up into the sky while listening to Emilia. A tear fell down from his face as he was looking at the sky.

“I didn’t know that would be my last time seeing him. There were still some things I wanted to say to him,” said Lucas.

Lucas wiped the tears from his eyes and walked towards Arthur. Lucas put his hand on his shoulder.

“I wish I was there Arthur. I wish I could have helped, but in reality, I was too late. I am sorry for not being there for you. All I can do now is finish the job that my brother started,” said Lucas.

Arthur calmed down after hearing their explanations. He felt a little closer to them after hearing their thoughts on his parents. He wiped away his tears and smiled at Lucas.

“I’m okay now,” said Arthur.

“Great, now let's head to the car we’re almost there,” said Lucas.

After walking for a little, Arthur found a large white car parked in the distance beside a sidewalk. Lucas took keys from his pocket and unlocked the car doors. Emilia and Lucas sat at the front while Arthur sat on one of the two back seats. Beside him were a booster seat and a cup holder. Inside the cup holder was a plastic children's cup.

Emilia looked back and called Arthur. “Are you ready to go Arthur?” asked Emilia.

Arthur was distracted while looking at the booster seat, causing him to respond late. He quickly got his seat belt ready.

“I’m ready,” said Arthur with a flustered expression.

Emilia smiled then looked at the booster seat.

“We were in a rush when we got the call, so we left Chole’s favorite cup in the car after dropping her off with someone else. She’s only five, so a booster seat is a must,” said Emilia.

Lucas started to speak in a tired voice. “She must be pretty grumpy. I feel bad for Mrs.Perry, she would have to watch Chloe by herself and with her in a grumpy mood,” said Lucas as he sighed.

Emilia laughed and said. “We're probably going to get it the worst when she realizes that we took the cup.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s going to be a long drive,” said Lucas.

Emilia then turned back around to Arthur. “It’s going to be a long drive Arthur, plus it’s also pretty late. Feel free to fall asleep if you want,” said Emilia.

“I‘ve been feeling pretty tired, so I'll try to sleep through the trip,” said Arthur with a slight smile.

“Goodnight Arthur,” said Emilia.

Arthur closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the car moving across the road. He thought about his aunt and uncle.

“Auntie and uncle seem like nice people. I wonder if they can help me,” thought Arthur.

Arthur's consciousness started to waver as had a final thought about his future. For the first time, the future was something that he found scary and questioned what he wanted to do. Finally, he closed his eyes and fell asleep in the car.